Tuesday, August 01, 2006

What better way to celebrate a new blog design than with a granola? Huh? Huh? How?

OK. I know I'm reaching. Granola isn't that exciting. But my house is packed up for the move and I was in the mood for granola. Not having much on hand, I looked for a very paired down recipe. I found it with Kathleen Daelemans's recipe for crunchy granola.

It is VERY crunchy -- crunchier than you'd expect -- but it's also a tasty and healthy snack. Shane and I ate it up pretty quickly as is, but I'm sure it would be great with milk for breakfast, or sprinkled in some yogurt. I'm not sure I'd make it again simply because I'd like more "stuff" in the granola, but I did enjoy this.

Combine brown sugar and water in a 4-cup microwave proof glass measuring cup or bowl. Place in microwave on high for 5 minutes and cook until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from microwave, add vanilla extract and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, nuts, and brown sugar syrup mixture. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Spread the granola onto cookie sheets and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden and crunchy.

When the mixture comes out of the oven, it is still very pliable. You may choose to add in dried fruit as a finishing touch at this time. When granola has cooled completely, store in an airtight container.

Really, I like it a lot -- I love how the blueberries frame the header. Congrats on the new look!

Perhaps dried mango (and maybe even dried pineapple) would work well in the granola recipe? That would definitely jazz it up. I agree -- I love having lots of different goodies in my granola, too, and I always eat it plain. No milk for me!